All Rome had to do was produce the body of Jesus, and they would have quelled an upstart religion founded on a myth.

But the tomb was empty...

He hung there on the cross, beforehand having been beaten three times, a crown of thorns pushed onto his head, flogged with a flagrum, and made to carry a heavy wooden cross up to Golgotha where he would meet his death. And for many people, that’s where the story should end. But it didn’t.

The debate about the existence of Jesus is long settled. The debate has now shifted strongly toward whether or not he was the man he claimed to be. It all rests upon the event of the Resurrection, which believers celebrate today.

So what do skeptics say about the resurrection?

THEORY 1 - WRONG TOMB. The first, and weakest argument, is that the women went to the wrong tomb. When Mary and Martha (the sisters of Lazarus), and Mary Magdalene went to the tomb, their emotional state being such that they accidentally went to a wrong tomb. This idea falls apart quickly. The tomb belonged to the family of a wealthy believer named Joseph of Arimathea, who had demanded the body of Christ after his death on the cross. (Matthew 27:57; Mark 15:43; John 19:38) He then placed Jesus in his own eventual tomb, which would have been well marked given that it was private. THEORY #1: BUSTED

THEORY 2 - UNKNOWN TOMB. A man by the name of Professor Gignabert says that we don’t know what tomb Jesus was really placed it, going on to say that the body was tossed into a mass public burial site. See Theory #1 for rebuttal.

THEORY 3- THE SWOON. Others say he merely swooned while on the cross. Known simply as ‘The Swoon Theory’, it states that Jesus passed out from the pain and was thought to be dead. There are some gaping plot holes in this little yarn which were pointed out by scripture and, of all people, a prominent atheist.

The theory assumes Jesus was just a man with no supernatural attributes, and the theory crumbles like so: After Jesus “passed out”, he was taken down from the cross and thrown into a tomb, a stone weighing several tons rolled over the entrance, sealed with wax to detect tampering (not to hold the rock in place), and guarded by a handful of Roman soldiers who received the very same training which their empire used to conquer the known world. Twelve untrained disciples wouldn’t stand a chance. So as all of this is put in place, we are to believe that Jesus was alive and well after being thrice beaten, flogged, a crown of thorns pushed on his head, nailed to a cross, and then after he allegedly swooned was run-through with a spear which pierced him from his right lung up through his heart. Blood and water flowed out. (John 19). Jesus was dead.

But the theory doesn’t end there. While in the tomb, Jesus simply recovered from his wounds with no fresh air and no food or water, rolled away a giant stone under his own strength and either escaped or single-handedly defeated a number of Roman guards and went back to his disciples.

I think it goes without saying, but...THEORY #3: BUSTED

The last of the arguments is that the disciples stole the body while the guards were asleep. Sleeping at your post was punishable by death in Rome. This theory is the most widely believed theory, but scripture tells us that the Sadducees paid a Roman guard to say he fell asleep at his and then used their considerable political clout to keep him from the usual penalty in effort to keep this new faith from ruining their social status quo. (Matthew 28:11-15).

The truth is, He rose from the grave. He walked out of that tomb by the power of God and the light of angels. Thousands witnessed his crucifixion, and many bore witness to his appearance after he was laid in the tomb. The disciples, with this knowledge in mind, were commission by Christ to "Therefore go out and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19) The apostles went out and began to preach. They received numerous death threats, beatings, and other persecutions because of their faith.

It could be said that Jesus was a liar. But no one dies for something they KNOW is a lie. Jesus is Risen. He is Lord. And his disciples knew it, too.

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For those of you who are satisfied but don't have God in your life, the rest is for you...

Our Lord has risen from the grave to give us new life in Him. He is God, and death could not hold Him, that we may now inherit eternal life in God’s kingdom.

“For God so loved the world He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever would believeth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

We all have a need for salvation, and through Christ that need is fulfilled.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).

It is why the world is the way it is, filled with all kinds of death and deceit and temptation.

“For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23a)

But through Christ we can rid ourselves of that taint, and begin a new life.

“But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b)

God loves us more than anything in all creation.

“God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us!” (Romans 5:8).

Christ is holding out a hand of love and kindness to you, not one of coercion or condemnation, so that you have a way of salvation.

“Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved!” (Romans 10:13)

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9, 10).

If you would like to accept his free gift of salvation, simply pray these words from the heart:

Dear God,

I have sinned. I have lived a life separate from you. Today, I want that to change. I want to be free from the guilt of my sin and free from its power. I confess to you now that I believe Jesus Christ died for me, so that I can be saved from eternal damnation. I believe he rose from the grave, so that in Him I have eternal life reserved for me in Heaven. God, I ask for your forgiveness, and to take control of my life. Make me the person you want me to be. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

If you prayed to receive Christ, you have had your slate wiped clean in God’s eyes. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

No longer do you have to worry about having to earn heaven. It has been paid for by Christ himself! “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:7-9)

Now that you have become a follower of Christ, the reset button has been pressed on your sin. You are saved, and you will have Heaven as your true home.

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